Just a Quick Dip
by dart53
Summary: Actor and Goniff had gone off to visit with the kids down at Mrs. Reid's place and Casino decided, rather than go with them, he'd better tag along with the Warden and Chief. They were going out to scout the river because their fearless leader thought they needed some practice in the boats again. He was hoping he could talk the Lieutenant out of it ...


Actor followed Goniff up the back steps and into the hall that led to the kitchens. The car park was at the rear of the mansion so they rarely used the front entrance. In any case the little cat burglar always had to check for food when they returned to the house so it was also more convenient. But he nearly tripped over the man when he came to a dead stop at the entrance to the kitchen.

"What'r you doing then?" Goniff challenged the man standing at the stove.

"Makin' tea. What's it look like?" the cook grouched back.

"You?" The little cockney stepped across the room and came to a stop in front of the large stove. "Gimme that!" Goniff wrested the steaming kettle away from Casino and peered into the teapot that sat on the counter. "Blimey! You don't do it like that!" He sat the kettle back on the burner and turned the pot over and shook the tea out into the cup that was setting nearby. The dried leaves filled the cup and then cascaded over its sides. "You used a right wad a the stuff didn't ya?" With that he turned his back on his teammate, mumbling about cold teapots and 'bloody foreigners'.

"But what is this all about, Casino? As I recall you do not care for tea." Actor asked, knowing it was an understatement.

"You don't think I'd drink that swill do ya? It's for the Warden."

Casino turned and rested a hip on the counter and watched his English teammate putter with the pot. Goniff poured hot water in and swirled it around and pour it out again to warm the teapot. Then he measured the tea out and added it to the refilled pot. "I don't know what you'r goin' to all the trouble for. We're just usin' the tea to warm up the booze anyway."

"What happened?" Actor reached out for the other man's abraded hand only to have it pulled away.

Casino pulled his hand up and cocked his arm back; the fist balled almost automatically and caused him to wince. "Get off, you. Phillips already looked at it."

Goniff covered the pot with a towel before he turned towards Casino. Actor cocked his head to the side and put a questioning brow up.

"Well you know how fast things can go t'hell around here sometimes…", the safe cracker started.

g

Actor and Goniff had gone off to visit with the kids down at Mrs. Reid's place and Casino decided, rather than go with them, he'd better tag along with the Warden and Chief. They were going out to scout the river because their leader thought they needed some practice in the boats again. He was hoping he could talk the Lieutenant out of it because even though the sun was shining today it had been raining pretty steady and pretty hard for the last few days. And it was cold. They'd had sleet at the house and there was even some snow in the hills above the village.

"See." Casino jabbed his finger in the direction of the water cascading through the river's rocky course. "We'd be nuts to go out in somethin' like that on purpose."

Garrison glanced at the east coast con and then went back to his study of the river, which was running well above its normal level. "So in stead of practicing in these conditions I guess you'd rather just wing it when the need comes up again, Casino?"

"Jeeze!" Casino planted his fists on his hips and turned on their commander. " _ **If**_ it ever come up again? No! I don't want a just 'wing it' but…."

"What's that?" Chief cut him off and raised his hand to point up stream.

All of them turned to look but Garrison reacted first. He took off at a dead run, stripping his jacket and tie off as he angled down stream. Chief bolted after him and Casino, after a moment's confusion, went after the both of them. He could hear the Warden shouting something about a bridge as he kicked out of his shoes and then dove into the roiling water. When Garrison surfaced Casino watched as he took two strong stokes downstream before he disappeared around the bend.

Chief pivoted and almost ran over Casino as he scrambled up the embankment.

"What the…"

"There was a kid in the water!" The group's scout shouted over his shoulder as he headed back towards the car. By the time he reached it Casino was right on his heels.

Chief had the car in gear and was sending up a rooster-tail of gravel before Casino managed to get the door closed. There were several bridges that crossed the water and they headed for the first one that would accommodate a car…but it seemed like it took forever to get there.

The car slid as Chief braked to a stop. They bailed out and met on the upstream side of the bridge; both of them straining to catching sight of anyone in the water.

"Did we miss 'em?" Casino asked as he turned to gaze downstream.

Chief had a sense of how fast the water was moving on the surface but he knew the currents underneath could be different. There'd been no way to keep the river in view as they made their race for the bridge. He caught his lower lip with his teeth and shook his head. "Don't think so."

"Then where are they?" the safe cracker demanded.

The younger man turned back for the car, opened the boot, and took a length of rope out of the back. "Come on. Warden said to work back upstream, from the bridge." He had to shove Casino off and point him to the other side of the river when he started to come along with him.

They moved as fast as they could but had to take time to search the banks for any sign that the Warden had been able get out of the main stream somehow and wedge in to wait for them. So far they hadn't found anything and Chief was beginning to fear that somehow he'd missed them that they really had passed the bridge before he and Casino reached it and were now somewhere far downstream. Or worse, they'd been sucked under and were jammed in against the rocks somewhere upstream and they'd never find them alive. His head jerked up when he heard a piercing whistle from his teammate on the other side of the river. Casino was gesturing a little farther upstream to a stand of trees that obscured the bank from Chief's view.

Casino slid to a stop on his side of the river. He could see into the trees where the branches hung out almost to the middle of the river but Chief had to push his way in through the bramble that had grown up along the bank. When he got a look the younger man caught the inside of his cheek with his teeth and wondered what in the hell they were going to do next.

Garrison had somehow managed grab onto the branches that trailed on the surface of the water with his left hand. He had the kid clamped tight to his chest with his right arm. It looked like he might have at least one foot braced in the stones at the bottom of the river but the current was still twisting and pulling at him and threatening to tear his grip loose. Anything floating in the torrent seemed to make a beeline for him too. Sooner or later something was going to knock him loose.

There was too much fast water between the bank and where they were for Chief to get to them. And if he tried climbing out on the branches Chief was sure his weight would cause the bough to dip and all of them would end up underwater. He couldn't get a good look at the kid but he didn't want to chance that. The group's scout sent his own high pitched whistle across the water and waved his teammate downstream where they'd both be in the open. He hoisted the rope he had in his hand and caught Casino's nod of understanding.

Chief wrapped the free end of the rope around his left hand and over his back and then used a full arc swing to get the rest of the coil across the water to Casino. The river pulled and tugged at the line as they made their way back upstream.

Chief couldn't make it any farther than the trees, which left him a bit downstream from the Warden. Casino kept going a little farther upstream and then got set. They took up the slack; bringing the rope closer and closer to the two stranded in the river. The cord came up along Garrison's left side but with the trees blocking him in Chief couldn't get in position to leave a loop of rope that might snag them if the Warden let go of the branch he was clinging to.

Garrison tucked his head down towards the child and the water boiled up over their heads. He straightened out again and shook the water out of his eyes and struggled to keep his back to the current and protect the boy. They could see that he was talking to the kid and they could also see from the way his grip tightened on the Warden's neck the child wasn't having any part of whatever plan he was pitching. The Lieutenant dipped his chin and tried again. After a moment a small hand reached out and grabbed onto the rope.

Chief searched the tangled vegetation that blocked his path. There was no way through that wouldn't trap him if he needed to move quickly back downstream. When the Warden looked over at him he could only shake his head. He followed his gaze when Garrison rolled his head to the left to get a look at Casino. The safe cracker had his heels dug in and the rope coiled around his left arm and wrapped up over his back, he had it gripped in his outstretched right hand. He straightened up a bit and gave them a quick thumbs up and then hunkered down again.

Garrison tipped his head down again and spoke to the child. They could see the kid give a little nod after a moment and then his head came up and his mouth opened as he took in a gulp of air. The Warden let go and they disappeared under the surface of the river.

Chief felt the rope go tight when the weight of the two bodies hit it. He could see Casino pull back against the load on his side of the river. He could make out where the rope dove beneath the surface of the water but all he could see of the Warden and the child he had clutched to him was turbulence. At a shout from across the river he looked up. Casino was backing up the bank on his side, straining against the weight and pull of the current. Chief trotted downstream until rope straightened out. He leaned back against the pull of the river and a hand broke the surface of the water. The bank was steep on his side and the rocks gave way easily. He could only hold steady where he was and watch Casino do all the work but he could see the man's heels push up turf in the rain softened ground on the other side of the river.

Casino struggled against the pull on the rope. He was afraid if he leaned too far back he'd fall. When he scrambled back a couple of steps he could feel himself sliding in the slick grass under his feet. He backed up another step and saw the Warden's hand break the surface of the water just as he felt the turf give and bunch under his heel. Casino splayed his feet out to give himself as much purchase on the soft ground as he could get and he took a few more steps backwards. He gave a shout of relief when the Warden's head broke the surface of the water.

Garrison took a gulp of air and quickly rolled until the boy's face came up out of the water. The kid got his own gulp of air just before the current rolled them down under the surface again.

Casino crabbed backwards on his side of the river and Chief climbed up the bank on his side and pulled as hard as he could. The rope pulled taught and the two in the middle of the river came to the surface again. But they were in a fix because neither man had enough rope to feed across the river to the other and Garrison couldn't let go of the kid to go hand over hand to get them out.

Chief looked across the river at another high-pitched whistle from Casino. He couldn't hear what he was saying over the roar of the river. But Casino had a big mouth and an expressive face. It wasn't hard to figure out what he was telling him to do.

Drop the rope.

Garrison had a one handed grip on the rope and he was headed into the current. The force of the water had spun them a couple of times just a like a fishing lure. The rope made the child fast to his side but it had coiled down his body too and it was getting harder and harder to keep them stable in the water. He didn't know what his men were going to do but the only option he had was to just hang on and trust them.

Chief watched them spin in the water again. Someone had to let go, and Casino had better footing on his side of the river. He checked on Casino to make sure he was ready and then dropped the rope. He didn't spend any more time worrying about it but scrambled up the loose rock and headed back for the bridge and the car at a dead run.

Casino was almost pulled off his feet. He couldn't spend any time worrying about it. He turned his back on the drama in the water and started slogging up hill away from the river as fast as he could go. The pull on the rope wasn't steady. Some of the time he felt like he was going to go over backwards and some of the time he felt like there was nothing there; like the Warden and the kid had been knocked off. He couldn't risk turning around for a look so he just kept trudging up the bank.

Chief flung himself into the car. He pulled over the bridge and made a hard left onto the grass that grew along the bank of the river. Within seconds he was braking to a fishtailing stop above Casino's position. Leaving the engine running he rolled out and went to the back, plucking a blanket out of the emergency supplies that were kept in all the cars.

He clapped Casino on the shoulder as he jogged past and called over his shoulder. "You got 'em, Pappy!"

Casino turned, still holding onto the rope, to find that he'd towed the Lieutenant and the kid half out of the river along the rocks. He was still too afraid of the river current to let go of the rope until Chief reached them. He stood there another moment holding his breath until the youngest member of the team finally shook some movement out of the Warden. When Casino tried to drop the rope he found he had to peel it away from his hand where it had bitten into the skin. He jogged down the bank and slid in next to the Lieutenant just as the kid rolled away from their commander to sit in the grass and start to howl.

"I want M' Mummy!"

Garrison rose up on an elbow and reached out to put the little boy's hair out of his face with his other hand. "I'll just bet you do!" he laughed and coughed all at the same time.

Accepting the blanket from Chief he wrapped the child in it but he didn't have enough strength left to get the youngster up off the grass and into the young man's arms. Chief leaned over and collected the little boy and Casino reached in to haul the Warden up to his feet so they could get them both back to the car.

The car had been left running and they'd used the heater on the trip out from the mansion so it was still on. The heat was welcoming. Garrison settled into the front seat and took the little boy onto his lap so they would both be in the stream of heated air. Casino shut their door and then climbed into the back and slammed his own. Chief shifted and started off slow so the car wouldn't get mired in the mud. Once he was in deeper grass he turned back towards the bridge and the road. By the time the reached it the windows were starting to fog up.

Garrison pulled the blanket a little tighter around the child and cracked his window to help the windscreen clear. Chief and Casino did the same.

"Where d'we go?" Chief asked.

"I wanna go h' home!" the little boy answered with a hitch from all the crying.

"So do I," Garrison smiled. "But we need to get you checked out first. Base hospital, Chief we should be there in," the Warden turned his wrist up to check his watch. He shook it once before turning to ask, "What time is it?" But when he got his answer he turned and stared at his watch again. "Ten minutes? All that only took ten minutes?"

Casino reached over the back seat and pulled Garrison's broken watch up where he could see it then compared the time on the cracked dial to his own. "Jeeze! Seemed more like an hour to me."

They'd crossed the bridge and were traveling back down the road they way they'd come.

Chief stopped and climbed out. A moment later he was back, handing the Warden's jacket and shoes over the seatback to Casino. "Tie's gone." He said as he slid into the driver's seat and put the car in gear.

"That's okay." Garrison shifted in his seat, tucked the child more comfortably into the crook of his arm, and leaned his head against the frame of the door. "I hate ties," he admitted as he closed his eyes.

Casino whistled as raw skin came in contact with the wool of the jacket and his hand started to burn. "Jeeze! Get goin', will ya?"

The Warden turned at that and looked back at the man who was blowing carefully into his right palm. "How'd you do that?" and he reached over for the injured hand.

Casino kept his hand for himself and raised a chin in the direction of the welt that was turning red on the Lieutenant's hand and wrist. "Same way you did."

They had to wake the kid up when they got to the hospital. Casino took charge of him this time because he could manage him one-handed. Garrison had stiffened up during the ride in and needed help getting out of the car but he adamantly refused the wheelchair when Chief offered to get one.

Phillips was in a connecting hall and spotted them as they approached the main desk. "Don't you guys ever take a day off?" he asked as he walked into the reception area. And as he lifted the little boy out of Casino's arms he asked, "What happened this time?"

"You'll never believe it." Casino declared.

"Given your track record I doubt that very much." Phillips looked them all over and then turned on his heel and headed off for the exam rooms. "Well come on, let's get this show on the road."

"I've got to report this to the local constable first. I'll join you in…"

"I can do it." Chief interrupted.

'C' m'on." Casino clamped his good hand on the Warden's arm and started towing him after the doctor. "If I gotta, you gotta."

g

By this stage in the narrative the tea had brewed to Goniff's satisfaction. The little Brit found cups and had recovered a tin of biscuits from Winnie's 'secret' hiding place. Everything was loaded on a tray and he followed the other two up the stairs to the main floor.

"So by the time we got checked out the local cops were there…. And before we could finish up talkin' to 'em and get outta there the kid's screaming 'mummy' showed up." Casino stuck a finger in his ear and jiggled it. "Jeeze! It was worse 'n havin' bombs dropped on us over on the continent."

"But you are both all right?" Actor asked.

Casino gave a snort. "Well you know the Warden, he's 'fine'." And he raised his hand and flexed the fingers. "Hand's a little stiff but nothin' got busted. We'll both live…"

They could hear the phone ringing in Rawlins office as they approached the library door and the announcement by intercom that Garrison was wanted on the phone.

Casino rolled his eyes at his two teammates. "Maybe."


End file.
